"There is simply no excuse for women to be paid less than men," James said. "The very government that is supposed to protect our equal rights is the worst culprit of them all."

The report didn't determine why city government has a pronounced wage gap, but found that male and female workers are concentrated in different city agencies - the Department of Education and Administration for Children's Services have 77% and 73% women employees, respectively, while the Fire and Sanitation Departments are both 91% male.

Overall in the city, women make 91 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gap that isn't as high as it is nationally because of a group of high-paid women in the financial industry.

The lower wages add up: women in the city earn $5.8 billion less than men each year, according to the report.

The pay gap gets worse when race is taken into account. White women make 84 cents on the dollar compared to white men, while black women make 55 cents for every dollar paid to white men, Hispanic women make 46 cents, and Asian women make 63 cents.

That disparity for black women is nine points worse than it is nationally, while it's eight point larger for Hispanic women and 23 points larger for Asians.

James is calling for a new city policy banning agencies from asking job applicants about their prior salaries, a practice that is believed to keep women on lower salary tracks throughout their career. She's recommending private employers adopt the same tactic.

The wage gap for city workers dates back to prior administrations, James said. "We cannot wait any longer to fix it," she said.

"Despite significant progress, the insidious and persistent wage gap among male and female members of our workforce continues. We recognize that this problem demands our attention," said Azi Khalili, executive director of Mayor de Blasio's Commission on Gender Equity, saying the group was examining how city employees' wages are set.